The government of Hungary has spent €3.1bn on renationalising Liszt Ferenc International Airport near Budapest by acquiring an 80% stake from owner-operator Vinci Airports.
A handover ceremony was held on Tuesday, attended by economics minister Márton Nagy and Nicolas Notebaert, the chief executive of Vinci Airports.
According to Hungarian newspaper Világgazdaság, Nagy told reporters that Budapest has “concrete plans” for developing the airport over the next 10 years, and had prepared a joint business plan with Vinci, which retains a minority stake.
The aim is to increase passenger throughput from 15 million to nearly 20 million by 2030, and then aim for 25 million.
The minister said access to the airport was inadequate and that it was the state’s responsibility to develop the airport’s auxiliary infrastructure, including a high-speed railway, roads, hotels, and more parking.
“It is very nice to say that passenger traffic is increasing, but we need a bigger terminal and we need to get people to the airport,” he said.
He suggested the airport would have a third terminal building by 2032, when all the infrastructure would be in place.
He said the government expected that the development of a rail link would cost around €1bn.
For his part, Notebaert commented that Vinci would develop the airport “on the basis of a common vision”. He said: “More capacity is needed, we need to grow, for that we need investments.”
He added that planning has already started on the expansion of Terminal 2, followed by the construction of Terminal 3. He said: “Hungary is a dynamic country, open for business, and we want to strengthen our role as a hub.”
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